Cuts scupper plan for new town square

Plans to close a road and create a new public square on this site near Barnsley Town Hall are a casualty of spending cutbacks at regional development agency Yorkshire Forward.

Barnsley Council has already spent around 20,000 on a trial road closure and work to investigate the impact of diverting traffic away from the area.

Half of that was supplied by Yorkshire Forward and the authority had been relying on the agency for financial backing to create a new Town Hall Square, which would have taken up a section of Church Street directly outside the building.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But now the council has announced the scheme has had to be shelved unless they can secure funding from elsewhere.

If that is not possible, it means the cash invested in the trial road closure is likely to have been wasted.

Darren Richardson, Assistant Director, Highways, Engineering and Waste Management, said: "Progress of this project has been dependent on funding from Yorkshire Forward.

"At present Yorkshire Forward is not able to commit to the scheme given the impact of national funding decisions; therefore the council is looking at other options to secure funding." Picture: Chris Lawton.

Related topics: